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Kia Commences Home Delivery Of Cars
After Maruti Suzuki, Kia have also started delivering cars to their customers. Taking the hassle of visiting the dealership out of the equation is one way to help car buyers follow through with their purchase.
The carmaker currently sells 2 vehicles in India – Seltos and Carnival. They have plans to bring their sub-4m SUV, Sonet, by the festive season but the launch date could move further depending on the pandemic.
25,000 Bookings For 2020 Maruti Suzuki Vitara Facelift Before Lockdown
While speaking with CarAndBike, Maruti Suzuki’s executive director of sales and marketing, Shashank Srivastava announced that they received 25,000 bookings. These figures are from the date the bookings for the refreshed subcompact SUV opened until the government issued the shelter-in-place order.
2020 Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza Petrol Facelift BS6
Opinion
While these are inspiring numbers, it’s worth noting that customers across all segments have either already pulled out or could cancel their purchase soon. The number of current bookings could be lower than this or at least not that high. There are 2 reasons for this:
The financial stress on buyers is increasing. The pandemic is far from over. As businesses continue to feel the brunt, the employees will have to settle for lower salaries (best case) or no job (worst case). Maintaining a financial cushion to fall back on is becoming a priority.
The need to commute and travel itself is going down. Many businesses have found ways to enable their employees to work from home. This will most likely continue even after we get the shots for COVID. It allows companies to save on office space and other fixed costs. It saves employees plenty of time and fuel costs. Win-win!
Team-BHP Poll Hints At 83% Drop In New Car Sales
A recent poll on India’s largest automotive forum hints at a potential 83% drop in new car sales. There were a total of more than 500 participants in the poll, which is a good number to draw a meaningful insight into what’s coming. According to the poll, about 56% of buyers are putting their car-buying plans on hold. About 20% are not proceeding with their purchase. Only 10% intend to continue with their planned purchase. Almost 2% are picking up a cheaper model or variant. About 7% are considering used cars.
Poll – New Car Buying Trend Post Covid Outbreak
Opinion
Those who dropped their plans to buy a new car, pushed it further or are considering a used car instead make up a little over 83%. This is a shocking number for the new car business. A positive conclusion out of this is that almost 7% of buyers are going with a used car. Some of them will experience the hassle and huge financial savings that come with it for the first time.
So, the used car businesses will see some new customers. And depending on their experience, their word of mouth will help solidify or shatter the used-car-buying plans of their acquaintances. The organized sector, though is a fairly safe, mostly surprise-free route. Cars lately are generally very reliable and sorted in all respects. Your chances of ending up with a lemon or something you absolutely hate are incredibly low.
Plus, since many businesses are looking to cut costs, there will be plenty of cars coming off lease, which can offer some good value. When you’re looking to cut costs, a pre-depreciated asset is one good way to do it.
In fact, the entire buying process – from doorstep test drives, booking a car online, getting home delivery, to pick and drop for service and, on top of that, the need to have a personal vehicle, combined, are commoditizing what has been considered a luxury for half-a-century in India. Getting emotions out of the way while shopping for a vehicle can greatly help you boil down your options to the one that offers the most value for your money. And, it’s easier to do that when you start to think of a car as an appliance that helps to go from point A to B in reasonable comfort.
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